For many small businesses, a website is a necessity, and website monitoring software is crucial to the success of their site. With a thorough and user-friendly site, even the smallest enterprise can establish a national or international reputation, and compete at the same level as its larger competitors.

But if your site is difficult to navigate or goes down frequently, you risk losing potential customers—permanently. With the assistance of a website monitoring software provider, however, you can identify any problems visitors might experience, and be instantly alerted if your site goes down.

What to include on your website monitoring software list of important features:

1. Constant monitoring of your website, email and servers
2. Instant notification of problems, via several methods such as email and IM)
3. Monitoring of all details, including links and online forms
4. A website monitoring provider that offers 24/7 customer assistance
   

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use website monitoring software information to experience your site as your visitors do

No matter how well designed or comprehensive your site is, if it's difficult to navigate, it will turn away visitors--and possible sales. Before you launch your site, and periodically as a check-up, experience your site as your visitors do--from logging in to their accounts to browsing the catalogue to paying for their purchases.

I recommend: WebWatchBot allows you to experience your site just as your visitors do, helping you evaluate whether your site is easy to navigate, responsive and available for customers and prospects. AlertBot not only monitors if your site is down, but also tracks the performance of features like online submission forms, in addition to download time and connection, so you'll know how visitors experience every aspect of your website.

Find website monitoring software that notifies you if your site goes down

Most every site experiences a glitch every now and then, but if this is a frequent occurrence, visitors might lose patience and stop visiting the site. And if your site is down for an extended period of time, you could miss out on hundreds or thousands of dollars in sales. Choose a web site monitoring software provider that alerts you immediately if there's a technical problem with your site, and you'll reduce downtime, and possibly increase sales.

I recommend: Atomic Watch runs in the background, monitoring everything from websites to online order forms, and instantly alerting you if the site goes down. ServerRadar monitors everything from Web servers to email servers, and notifies you instantly of problems.

Search a website monitoring software directory for open source software

If you run a small or fledgling business, you may not have the financial resources for expensive web site monitoring software. Thanks to the growing popularity of open source software, which is free and available for download, even companies with a tight budget can protect one of the most valuable assets: their website.

I recommend: With free, open source Nagios, designed for Linux operating systems, the goal is to alert site administrators of problems before visitors to the site do. Notifications can be sent several ways, including email and instant message. Mon.itor.us is free website monitoring software designed for smaller organizations, such as small and medium-sized businesses, departments within larger companies, and nonprofits. It's also aimed not only at IT professionals, but also at everyone from PR specialists to customer service representatives.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Find web site monitoring software that offers a free trial, and then try two or even three programs to evaluate which works best for you.